One year in thailand

Hey people,

Its been quite an exciting year. Thailand has been great. There have been some exciting times here. This country has alot to offer. This was one of my better decisions going to teach English. You learn alot about yourself and alot of bout other cultures. Thailand has some of the nicest people I have ever met. Also some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The year has went by so fast. There are so many memories that will last forever. With some really great people I have met from all over the world. You do miss alot from home. Especially the family and close friends. But I think it was a good winter to miss considering the record coldness at home.

It has been a long time since I last wrote in this.

The last few months have been some of the funnest times. I have been hitting up beaches and islands it seems like at least every other weekend. New Years was great hit up one of the biggest new years party in the world with over 10,000 people on a beach.

One of the highlights of the last few months is when 14 teachers and I went to a private island in the Adaman Sea. It was an Eco friendly island where we stayed in tents. This island was really great with granite cliffs and amazing corals. It also had as much snorkeling, kayaking and rock climbing that you wanted to do. We had a blast. The island only allows 60 visitors had one time so we nearly took up 1/4th of the island. It was like a scene from the beach. It also happened to be a full moon. So we had our own little beach party at night.

Another cool thing that happend is I got my own little private concert with a reggae music star of Thailand. One of my friends was at small reggae bar and he said Job2do who is pretty famous in Thailand was jamming with the owner. So I went over there and only a handfull of people were there to see it. It was really cool and he took some song request from me. Had him play a little neil young and of course some bab marley. Its just one of those experiences you will never forget.

I also took a weekend trip to krabi with some friends, Krabi is world famous for its rock climbing it was cool too. Some of us jumped of some cliffs into some clear water. Krabi is a pretty touristy so it is actually nice to eat some good western food. I enjoy being in touristy places to be honest, its cool to see and meet people from all over.

School is winding down and it is good to see some of the students have learned alot of English. You start to grow with some of the students. Its fun to here the students start to ask you questions in English, when you know that didn't know any when they started. This is the beginning of there summer. We have about a month in a half off. Many of the students will be going to summer school all summer. I will be teaching a little bit. But also plan on doing some traveling mostly around Islands in the south of Thailand. But also maybe a little bit of Malaysia. I also plan on getting certified to do some diving at the beginning of May. Also when I am in Nakhon i'm going to take advantage of the afternoons off and hit up some waterfalls and motorbike riding.

Since we are so close to the equator it gets dark all year around at like 7:00 so you don't have to much time to do much after work with sunlight. So it will be nice being able to take advantage of so many days off around Nakhon and seeing a little bit more.

An another note a couple friends from home have gotten jobs in Nakhon teaching. So that is cool and it is nice to see some friendly faces from home. Hopefully they have as much time as I have with there year or two in Thailand.

A couple friends and I are also trying to line up a 4 day hike up to the summit of the second highest mountain in Thailand. It should be great with some amazing views with some crazy wildlife and waterfalls.

I also tried my hand at some Muay Thai boxing, I lasted a month in half. Then kind of fell out of doing it. The trainers are really busy teaching as young as 5 year olds and as old as 20 years olds how to box. Yet it was a cool experience. And very interesting to learn a little bit about Thailands national pastime.

I will write when i get back from break.

Talk to you later Martin

Happy Holiday

Hello All,

It has been a while since i have wrote in this. Sorry bout that. The month of November was quite nice. I stuck mostly around the city of Nakhon. Two other teachers and I did have quite the cave experience. We went at least a mile back in a Gigantic Cave with a river flowing in it. It was really cool. The cave had bats flying all around it and it was kind of chilly in there.

We also did a few day trips to the beach. There are some pretty nice beaches about 40 miles away. They are not huge tourist beaches with mostly Thais on it. They are pretty nice.

For Thanksgiving we had a big potluck out at a friends. We didn't have a turkey but we did have some wonderful stuffing and mashed potatoes with some chicken. It was a pretty good time.

One weekend I went with one of the Thai teachers to a festival. It was the history of the city it was very interesting even though I couldn't understand what was being said. They also had a bunch of local food which was delicious, it also gave me a great photo opportunity with people in traditional Thai clothing. Also saw some of my students there.

Two of the last three weekends have been a wonder full. A few weeks ago some friends and I went to the Island of Ko Mook. This was one of the most beautiful places I have been. And one of the quietest. There is not very many people on this beach, just a few bungalows. It was great. We did a day trip of snorkeling in some of the most stunning clear water I have seen. We even saw a dolphin ( but are guide would not stop the boat, it really pissed us off) Then we swam through a cave to an opening where it opens to a little sunlight and a really need jungle. Finished the night with a wonder full bonfire on the beach.

Then just last weekend a bunch of us (18 teachers in total) took the motorbikes about two hours north to Kun Chang National Park where we rented a huge little hostel and enjoyed a really cool day of ultimate frisky and some rafting through the national park. The rafting was really enjoyable but not much of a challenge. It was really pleasant with nice mountain water and magnificent views.

As for teaching it has been going quite well. I have been teaching for 9 months now and you can definitely see the improvement with especially the first graders learning English. Its pretty cool when you start getting results. The Thai school system is pretty messed up though. All the parents care about test results. I mean test results for first and second graders think about it. I don't even remember having a in second grade. Many of the first graders can read English. I think that is very good.

Anyways have a Merry Christmas and New Year. We get a week off and headed to a tropical Island to celebrate and do some snorkeling. I am missing home. But when I see how cold it is it is hard to complain.

I have some new pictures posted.

Martin

A little Adventure

Wow,

First of all some people don't like to read which i understand but check out the pics if you get a chance. http://picasaweb.google.com/martin.calkins

Well it was fun litte adventure through Cambodia and Laos. I took the train from Nakhon Si Thammarat to Bangkok. The train was great. I like getting the second class cars because they open the windows and just let you enjoy the fresh air. It was great going by the mountains and just enjoying the scenery on a Friday afternoon knowing your going to go see and do stuff that you have never done any of it before. It was also enjoyable sitting with the Thais on the train and tasting the food that they had.

It was a night train so ended up going to sleep very early. Then meeting up with another teacher and her friend in Bangkok. We then took the bus that same day to the Cambodia border. Where we got off the bus and got on the fist Tuk Tuk (a small three wheeled taxi) which is a big no no. We told him take us to the border. But instead of taking us to the border he took us to this place where they make a visa for Cambodia before you go to the border. Then they have a Cambodian that speaks perfect English and basically lies and cons you end to spending nearly three times as much as you are suppose to do at the border. So basically instead of 30 bucks, we very gullible young Americans get conned end to spending allot more money then we were suppose too.

Once getting to the border we find this out. But there is nothing we can do now. This will not be the last time that u get conned in Cambodia. The place was notorious for people in your face for money. I actually had a 6 year old walking with her mother behind me. Reach into my back pocket and try to grab my wallet. This was in the capitol city of Pen om Pen. I said no no. But what can you really do. That is what the girl is taught to do.

Crossing the border from Thailand you can see that you are in a whole different world. Cambodia is the poorest place I have been to in my entire life. Also these people have been through some very hard times. After America left during Vietnam, A regime took over and killed over 2 million people, over 10 percent of the population. This was only a little over 30 years ago.

Yet through all this you meet some very kind people. Also It has the biggest ancient holy site in the world. The ancient watt on Angkor Watt. This place is so huge and beautiful. We spent a good day exploring the Ancient Watt. It is amazing the work that had to be done to build this place. Every piece of stone has hand carvings in it. It is a very magical place. You can only imagine what the place had to be like during the top of its time.

About 30 minutes from the Ancient City was a girl and her husband in the peace corps from my hometown. We went and spent the afternoon with her and saw her village and school she was teaching at. It was amazing to see the facilities that her and her husband taught at. I have allot of respect for the two volunteers. Doing this for no money, and little resources. But it was very nice to see there village and market. The difference between Thailand and Cambodia is pretty astonishing. It is very neat though. You see people still using donkeys and ox as a way of transportation. It is like you are back in time in some places. Especially when you get out to the villages. The people are not trying to con you they just want to meet you and see you. That is all I want to do too is SEE and Explore.

I then had to go to Pen om Penn where I had to get a Visa before going to Laos. Penom Penn is a city I did not know what to expect. This is the capitol of Cambodia. Everyone is in your face. You feel terrible you don't have a dollar to give to everyone. During the rule of the Notorious Paul Pot who killed so many. He and his military coup planted minds all over the country. So there is many people who were just normal farmers missing limbs begging for money. You also have wonder full little kids trying to sell books, cards, everything trying to make a dollar. They are nonstop and there is nothing you can do.

Yet the city has a charm to it. Just walking around. It is neat city in its way. With some nice parks and the huge Mekong River goes through it on its way to the Ocean. It is very cool walking through the parks at sunset and seeing families and fishermen just hanging out by the river. Many people that go to Pen om Penn go to a place called the "Killing Fields" this is where a majority of Paul Pot and his military killed people. They killed almost every intellectual, anyone who could speak a different language. They did not want anyone to have a critical mind. You can still see the stains of blood at the school that they made a prison. I decided I did not want to go see that. In a way I'm disappointed I didn't. But to be honest with you. I don't think it is something that I wanted to see.

Cambodia is a place that someone has to see while over here. With its history and people. I spent two nights in Pen om Penn and then took the bus to the border of Laos.

Just crossing the border give you a whole different feeling. The people of Laos are nearly the opposite of the people of Cambodia. They are so layed back. I first went to 4,000 islands. Which is an area on the Mekong River with many Islands. On the islands they have bungalows with hammocks and it is just a layed back feeling. It is the wet season in South East Asia. So the River was flowing. It is one of the only places in the world where there are still fresh water dolphins. I did not see any. But I did see the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia. By volume not by height. It was pretty amazing. Myself and some Irish girls and a couple from Great Britain kayaked with a guide down to the waterfalls. The scenery was amazing. The water was flowing really fast. The guides make sure you are out before the waterfalls. Then you drive down to a lookout point. It is very nice. They then drive you back up river where you get to Kayak back down to the island where we were at. It was nice. Some kids were at the beach where we put the kayaks in. They decided to try and steal my kayak. They stripped down and jumped on it and took off. They did bring it back. But I got a chance to take some really cool pics before getting the kayak back. The next day I rented a bike for a dollar and decided to bike through the fishing villages and rice fields about 30 km to the waterfall. It was quite pleasant with just a relaxing atmosphere. With some fun pictures of kids to take. I spent about 3 days and 4 nights on the island. Reading, walking, and riding bike....I did have the occasionally beer Laos. Which is a great beer.

I then decided to take the night bus up to Van Vien in the North part of Loas. It is an amazing little mountain villages. With spectacular views. It is an adventure get away with kayaking and mountain biking. It is also infamous for its tubing down a river with bars and rope swings on both sides of the river. The first day I was there I rented a bike and just road around the villages taking pictures and enjoying the fine day.

The next day was not so layed back. My self and some other people that I met up with. The couple from Great Britain , some Americans....and basically many more people decided to do the tubing thing. It was fun as hell. What else do you expect when you have hundreds of people from all over the world on a river with tubes and rope swings and spectacular scenery. The rope swings were quite fun. I wish I would have had more time and did a kayaking trip there or a trek. It was a stunning place.

The next day being on a tight schedule i took the bus Luanprabong. Luanprabong is on the World Heritage Site. The ride there was six hours and it was only about 130 miles away. You were on top of some of the prettiest views a person can see. The sad thing was they never stop so you can take pictures. You drive through some amazing mountain villages. Where peoples doorsteps look over some of the prettiest views imaginable. The ride was hell though. You were twisting, turning, stoping, going. I never get car sick....but this was one of those rides I came close to you know what.

When finally arriving in Luanprabong I found a guest house and just crashed out. When waking up you understand why this city is on the World Heritage Sight. It is a beautiful city where the Mekong meets up with another river in a Valley. There is a huge French influence in Laos and especially Luanprabong. With French Architecture all over the city. Laos also has a great influence of French food especially the bread and cheese. I was having a hay day with chicken sandwiches. It was a really beautiful town.

I rented a bike the second day I was there and road out to one of the prettiest waterfalls I have seen. I don't know why the color of the water is the way it is. But it makes it look really neat. I came to the first pool and met a group of young Laos a little bit younger then me. They let me sit down and I enjoyed some fish and other food I hadn't tried before. It was really good. They also had some beer Laos. I then joined them up the waterfall, where there is 4-5 different levels with a rope swing on one. I decided to try it. The water was very cold compared to any water I had been in before in Asia. It surprised me. Anyways the waterfall was nice and Luanprabong was a very nice little city.

I then flew back to Chang Mai, I only had a few days before school started back up. Spent a night in Chang Mai then road the train back to Nakhon Si Thammarat. Where I had two days before school started.

The trip overall was very nice. Yet there was allot of traveling involved. But when you are only going to be here maybe once in your life you want to see as much as you possibly can. I think on my next vacation over here. Maybe not so much traveling. The islands only a couple hours away from Nakhon are very nice, and I think will be calling my name.

Love you all.....

Love Martin

Again pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/martin.calkins

Excited For the Trip

Happy Fall everyone.

September was a busy month. There was a huge festival in the park for about two weeks. Music, dancing, fireworks, nearly every night of the festival. The festival was huge with all kinds of colors. It was so packed it took you nearly an hour or two to walk through the whole thing.

We also had sports week in the city. That is when all the schools compete in track and field challenges for a week. We had a parade and had to dress as cowboys during it.

We also took the 4th graders on a field trip down to songla which is about 3 hours to the south next to the Malaysian border. We went to the zoo and aquarium the 4th graders really enjoyed. I thought the aquarium was very nice.

Speaking of the 4th graders, my sister's 4th graders and mine are going to be pen pals. We will start this in November when I get back from break. The Thai students will enjoy it because they have great respect for America. Hopefully the students in my sisters class will enjoy it because so they can try to have an understanding of another place.

We are having test this week. They really pressure these students. It is nice to see that the students that I tutor after school are doing really good on the test though. But I still don't understand making such a big deal out of 6 and 7 year olds taking test. I really enjoy my 1st graders. They kind of remind me of a dog when you come home from work. Always happy to see you. When I walk into class, they are always very happy....."teacher Martin" teacher Martin". The 4th graders aren't so happy all the time!

On one of my days off my neighbor has a 67 volstwagon bug. He took me for a good cruise up to one of the mountain. These mountains around here are really beautiful. We are at sea level in the city. But once you get out of the city the elevation really starts to soar. The range is about 2300 meters. Which is alot when you consider we are at sea level in the city.

I also spent another weekend up in Kanom. I really like this stretch of paradise. Its very quiet up there with a beautiful beach and mountains in the back ground. There is a guy from Chicago the lives up there and he owns some Kayaks. When I get back from break we are going to take them up to the Mountain and cruise them all the way down to the ocean and back to his place.

Hard to believe that it is already fall. We have a break starting in two days. I am taking the train up to Bangkok for a couple days. I've decided that I am going to spend a day just walking throughout the city. Not knowing where I am going or what I am going to do. Just EXPLORE! It should be quite interesting. I plan on visiting China Town and little India on the way. Other then that just walk walk walk. And take many pictures. Then I am taking the bus to Cambodia. I am going to stop at a National park on the way there. Plan on going to see Angkor Watt in Cambodia. Then taking a boat up to Loas where I plan on white water rafting. I will tell you all about and publish pictures when I am finished.

The picture above is getting ready for the parade and the historic temple at night in the town.

Hope everybody has a good October! Talk to you soon

Martin

Seems Like there is Always Some Sort of Festival

Hello All.

Well not to much has changed here. Seems like there is always a festival going on somewhere. With delicious little snacks and lots of colors.

It starts to get a little frustrating when you can't speak the language. Recently my school took all the teachers up to the the Island of Ko Sumui for the weekend. I was the only fa rang teacher that went. It was a nice resort. But it is very hard when you can't speak Thai. The Thai teachers are very kind and try there best to make you feel welcome. There idea of a vacation and our idea of a vacation are a little bit different. We were at a very nice resort with a great beach. But they did not want to hang out on the beach. To Hot for them! So we sat in a restaurant for two hours and then decided to drive two hours to see a temple for 10 minutes. Not my idea of a Saturday at one of the most gorgeous beaches in Thailand. Hey but it was a good experience and very nice of the school to send us up there for a weekend.

Sometimes I will go out to eat with Thai friends and it gets hard because maybe one of them can speak English but most of them can't. So they will get into a conversation that I cannot follow. I'm learning Thai a little bit. But it is tough! They have the same words with different pitches.

I don't know if anyone gets used to all kinds of people yelling "HELLO" at you. Or pointing at you and saying FA RANG (which means foreigner). But they do not mean it in a mean spirited way. This is a very welcoming culture and country. If all cultures and countries would be so kind to people from other parts of the world when people come to there countries. We would all be very lucky.

Two weeks ago. I went up to Kanome again. Which is just a beautiful beach with mountains in the background. There are some really nice people that own bungalows and restaurants up there. I spent an day kayaking hoping to see the famous pink dolphins that swim in that area. But no such luck. Maybe next time. They kayaking was great though. I kayaked right up next to some fisherman in the banana boats. Took some neat pics and said hello in Thai. I also saw some young kids fishing who offered me some water. The bay is very nice, with no waves. I did get see a storm come in from the mountains and get drenched.

This weekend we have a English Competition at our School. Everybody seems to be pretty excited about it. We have been preparing the students. I hope they do well. You would not believe how much pressure parents put on these first and second graders. Wow, they are just kids let them have fun. There is some crazy mothers.....But overall most of the parents are very nice and kind.

Next weekend i'm going back up to the Island of Ko SuMui with a bunch of fellow teachers. Farang teachers that is and we will be enjoying the beach and the heat.

Another thing I wanted to mention, I really do have some fun students. One story I would like to share. One of the students lost one of his tooth in class. And ran up to the front of the room to show me. Then he showed me he another tooth loose. He decided to pull that one out right there. So he lost two teeth in one class. He had a third one lose too. But not loose enough to lose it.

Three more weeks and I am on my way to Cambodia, Vietnam, and Loas. Might run into some people from home along the way. Not sure yet though. I will make sure I blog before I head out.

Above is some pictures from one of the festivals I attended and one of my view from kayaking. Again for more pictures click on the picture of the pool to the right.

Talk to you soon

Thailand is pretty neat!

Hey everyone. I guess I'm not going to update this thing every week like originally thought. But I think every couple weeks to a month will be okay. Its been another busy couple weeks.

Teaching has been going good. One of the teachers at my school from Canada decided it was time for her to go home. I ended up taking over her classes. I am now teaching 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade Science. I am enjoying it. Its amazing how much these Thai kids actually spend in a classroom in one day. Pretty much from 8:00 in the morning until 5:00 with an hour break. If you ask me, I think they need some more free time. A number of kids also go to after school programs and learn more. I agreed to tutor some students from my school for twice a week. They have a three week break in October. Right now I'm starting to plan on where I am going to go. I think I'm going to to up to the country of Loas and do some rafting and trekking. From what I have heard about Loas it is one of the most breathtaking countries for beautiful mountains and scenery. I also might get certified to go scuba diving.

Live in the city of Nakhon is pretty easy going. The language berrier is very hard. I am starting to learn a little bit. Peaople start to recognise you around town. People yell "Teacher Martin Hello". Above is picture of an elephant that was walking by. I got to feed it. It has been pretty hot and dry lately. But from what I hear October is monsoon season and I have never seen anything like it before.

The Princess of Thailand came a to the city last week. They ended up canceling school and basically shutting the city nearly down. Everybody gathered out by the rode to watch her drive by. It was quite interesting. I bairly saw her drive by. No one can be above royalty in Thailand so we had to sit down when she drove by. She had a pretty huge entourage of people.

About two weeks ago it was my roomates Bday and we took the train down to the City of Hatyai where he used to teach. Hatyai is a pretty big city next to the Malaysian border. It has a unique feel to it. Alot of Chinese influence in the city. Lots of good food and shopping. It used to be a huge tourist center but there have been some terrorist bombings in recent years. Nothing recently. The train ride itself is pretty cool. Lots of Beautiful scenery all the way down there with the windows wide open in the train. Above is a picture of what it looks like from the train. A young man looking outside. The people walk back in fourth on the train selling fruits and crafts. It is pretty cool. It was a really social atmosphere.

This last weekend I went with a group of teachers up to the beach of Kanom. This beach is not really on the tourist track. But it is really nice. Just beautiful white sand with crystal clear water. Supposedly you can see dolphins alot. But we never saw them this weekend. The owner of a pub was having a promotion. He offered free boat rides and kayaking all day. I even got to do a little wake boarding. It is only an hour south of Nakhon. I am defiantly going to have to go back.

Tomorrow is the Queens bday (mothers day in Thailand) So we don't have school. I'm going to go hit up a waterfall.

It has now been over five months since I left the states. I'm getting used to it. But I sure do miss alot of stuff. Especially friends and family. But you really cannot beat an experience like this.

I have new pictures posted. You can click on the photo on the pool to the top right and it will take you to the website where the pictures are.

Peace

Busy couple weeks

Hello, everyone.
Sorry its been so long but I've been very busy.
School has been pretty busy. We have semester test coming up in a week. School is going pretty well. The students really like me. I am enjoying the students also. The Thai teachers are always bringing in new food for us to eat. I can't believe how much they eat. Some of it is really good. Other stuff I don't know if I would feed it to my dog.
I am also teaching tennis with the director on Friday afternoons. I have no idea about tennis so the first day of tennis (the director was home sick) I just hit the ball as far as I could to the kids. But tennis has been going pretty good. We only do it on Fridays.
We did have a five day holiday on the 4th. It was a Buddhist Holiday here. I ended up going to Ko Pan Yan, which is this Island about three hours away. The water and beaches are absolutely gorgeous. The first two nights I rented a motorbike and rode to the northern end of the Island. Got a bungalow on the beach and spent the day snorkeling and reading a book. It is insane how cheap it is. Because you are in absolute paradise. The island is crazy with mountains and waterfalls. There is also huge coconut trees everywhere. The next day I just spent the day reading a book and chilling with some people from France. The last two days I decided to check out what Ko Pan Yan is famous for.(The Full moon Party) This is basically where every month people from all over the world gather and party at this beach for the Full moon. So I took my motorbike on an hour ride across the island to meet up with some other teachers from Nakhon. Its an awesome ride on the motorbike with the mountains and scenery. . Bungalows on this side of the island are two are three times the price then where I was. The Full Moon party beach has from 10,000 to 30,000 people staying on it so prices go up.It isn't half as nice when your talking about scenery and snorkeling. But is nice when your talking about doing a little socializing. It was fun chilling on the beach and talking with everyone from just about every part of the world. Plus there was some absolutely beautiful women on the beach. The party itself at night is crazy. Techno and rave music blaring all over and literally anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people dancing. It was definitely worth going to see. It won't be my last trip to the island. I also gave in and had some good western food nearly every meal on the beach.
On the weekends around Nakhon Si Thammarat (where I am teaching) there is a good group of young people from Australia, Great Britain, America, and South Africa to hang out with. There is a number of waterfalls around the city. These waterfalls are amazing. There are different levels to the waterfalls with these huge pools to swim in and sun bath. You have to hike a little bit to get to them. And the views from these waterfalls are amazing. Just jungle below them, with mountains in the back ground. So every weekend we have been trying to hit up a waterfall.
In between all that has been going on, I ended up renting a house with a dude from Illinois. Pretty nice. Very good location.
I want to wish my mom happy bday.
I will get pictures posted up soon.

Talk to ya soon,
Martin